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Victimized public figures?!
March 02, 2007 6:11 PM
By BRUNO NOTA
The elder of the Israeli politicians, today a member of the Knesset and deputy prime minister Shimon Peres said once that the press has made a dictatorship impossible and the democracy unbearable.
The dispute over how far the press can, or actually should go in order to uncover suspicions of misconduct or wrongdoing on the part of society’s democratically elected few will probably not come to a conclusion for some time to come.
The love -- hate relationship between journalists and politicians is a fact of life, intricate to both groups’ professional careers.
But lately, few Israeli politicians who have come under the scrutiny of the public eye, found a new way to deal with the accusations brought against them in the press: counterattack. Why not? Blame the press for trying to ruin their career, for getting children coming back from school in tears, accuse single journalists or entire media establishments of letting personal dislikes or political disagreements inspire their work.
Esterina Tartman, is a member of Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset. The personal page of MK Tartman in the Knesset’s internet site showed she held an MA degree. that was the case till few days ago. Today the education segment for MK Tartman is entirely gone.
Tartman has “slightly” misrepresented her academic achievements. One of the Israeli papers uncovered the fact and as a result Tartman’s candidacy for the Tourism portfolio in Edud Olmert’s government was retired.
In a prime time televised press conference Tartman admitted she should have made clear what her real education was. And without a pause she accused the reporters covering her press conference of.. doing their job and uncovering the truth?!
Just over a month ago, a very emotional President Moshe Katzav, again , in a prime time televised press conference, accused the media and the police of no less than a public lynch against him. Mr Katzav is at present preparing to present his case in a hearing with attorney general Menahem Mazuz in an effort to avoid an indictment on charges of rape.
The public right’s to know is a subject widely discussed in Israel. The half hourly radio newscasts, the talk shows, the one hour long evening news shows on the three main Israeli television channels leave the majority of the Israeli public with almost no way to ignore the day’s events.
Once elected for public office, politicians sometime forget promises made to their electorate. They do remember though the public opinion is shaped by the results of their parliamentary or governmental work as much as it is influenced by media reports telling a story they may want untold.
And like in any other democracy, it is the Israeli public who will have its final say on who of the politicians pointing the finger, not assuming responsibility for their actions will be elected again to public office.
March 2, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0)
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